Conventional railroad tracks include rails supported on railroad ties. The railroad ties are supported on an aggregate bed that functions as a foundation for the ties. Routine track maintenance involves the periodic tamping of the aggregate bed to ensure that the bed is sufficiently compacted to provide adequate support to the rails and ties. Tamping is a fairly straightforward procedure on most lengths of track. However, at switch points, tamping can be more difficult because the various switching linkages typically positioned between the rails prevent the tamping equipment from accessing the aggregate bed located beneath the linkages. To overcome the above problem, it has been proposed to place a track switching mechanism within a hollow railroad tie (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,175 to De Spiegeleer). However, this type of design is fairly complicated and the relatively large, open volume within the railroad tie provides areas where ice and debris can collect thereby interfering with the effective operation of the switching arrangement. In view of the above problems, an improved switching device for railroad tracks is needed.